Timeline of Iberian history (Germanic Kingdoms)
This section of the timeline of Iberian history concerns events from the Barbarian settlements (409) to before the Moorish conquest (709). =Germanic Kingdoms= ---- 5th Century * 409 ** General Gerontius mutiny after refusign the resignation of his command in Hispania and install his son Maximus in the throne. Beginning of a civil war.Kulikowski 2004, p. 157-160 ** The Germanic Suevi (Quadi and Marcomanni tribes), under king Hermeric, cross the Pyrenees accompanied by the Buri tribe and pass through the Basque country to the Roman province of Gallaecia.Thompson 1982, p. 129 and 306 ** The Germanic Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi tribes) and the Sarmatian Alans cross the Pyrenees and enter in the Iberic Peninsula. * 411 ** Roman emperor Honorius divide most of Iberia sorte (by lot) between the barbarian peoples, who become foederati, permitting to settle under their own autonomous governance in exchange of warriors to the Roman armies.Thompson 1982, p. 153-154 ** The east of the province of Gallaecia fall to the Suevi, while the west of the province goes to the populous Hasdingi. ** The Silingi receive land from the Romans in Hispania Baetica (South), while the Alans get lands in Lusitania (West) and the region around Carthago Nova (Cartagena). ** Gerontius dies during the Battle of Arles, where he is defeated by Constantius. Maximus forfeit his claims and enter a monastery. * 415 ** After the naval blockade of the Mediterranean ports of Gaul by Honorius's general Constantius (who would later become Emperor Constantius III), the Visigothic king Ataulf withdraw with his people into northern Hispania. ** Ataulf is murdered in Barcino (Barcelona) by a member of the rival branch Amali, who puts Giseric in the throne. Giseric, however, reign only seven days, being also murdered and replaced by Wallia. * 418 - The Alan king Attaces is killed in battle against the Visigoths, and this branch of the Alans subsequently appeal to the Vandal king Gunderic to accept the Alan crown.Vasconcellos 1913, p. 551 * 419 - The Hasdingi Vandals attack the Suevi, but they resist with Roman aid, eventually expelling the Hasdingi from Gallaecia. King Gunderic joins the Silingi, becoming king of all Vandals.Thompson 1982, p. 165 * 429 ** The Roman General Flavius Aëtius convinces Galla Placidia, mother of the boy emperor Valentinian III, that her General Bonifacius was plotting to kill her and her son to claim the throne for himself. At the same time Aëtius convinces Bonifacius that they were plotting to kill him. Thus, Bonifacius enlist the help of the Vandal King Genseric, promising land in North Africa.Procopius, i.3.14-22, 28-29 ** Genseric cross the strait of Gibraltar with the entire tribe (including the Alans), leaving the Iberic lands to the Romans.Collins 2000, p. 124 * 430 - King Hermeric begin to attack the Hispano-Roman population of Gallaecia. * 432 - The Roman army commanded by Censorius, who came in help of the Roman Gallaecians, defeat the Suebi, forcing them to release the Gallaecian families they had taken captive.Thompson 1982, p. 178 * 435 - King Hermeric ratify the peace with the Hispano-Roman local population.Thompson 1982, p. 179 and 301 * 438 - King Hermeric abdicates in favor of his son Rechila. * 439 - King Rechila take Emerita Augusta (Mérida), capital of the Roman province of Lusitania.Thompson 1982, p. 172 * 441 - King Rechila take Hispalis (Seville), capital of the Roman province of Baetica. * 448 - King Rechila dies leaving a state in expansion to his son Rechiar who tries to impose his Catholic faith on the Suevi population.Thompson 1982, p. 218 and 306 * 449 ** February - King Rechiar attempt to conquest Vasconia.Collins 1984, p. 6 ** Rechiar allies with Basilius, leader of one of the local peasant rebels group known as Bagaudae, and raid the Ebro valley, attacking Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza) and even entering Ilerda (Lérida). He takes many prisoners, but fails to take the region and thus complete the Suevic conquest of Spain.Thompson 1982, p. 162 * 455 ** King Rechiar attacks the province of Tarraconensis, the only province of Spain still under Roman control, but did not conquer it.Thompson 1982, p. 163 ** Vandals conquer the Balearic Islands. * 456 ** The emperor Avitus calls the help of the Visigoths against the Suebi. Theodoric II invades Spain with an army of Visigoths, Franks, Burgundes under their kings Chilperic I and Gundioch, and perhaps even Romans.Thompson 1982, p. 296 ** October 5th: Theodoric defeat Rechiar in a battle at the Campus Paramus, twelve miles from Astorga on the Urbicus (Órbigo). Rechiar is wounded during the battle, but manage to escape. ** October 28th: Braga, capital of the Suebi kingdom, fall and is brutally sacked by the Visigoths before moving on to conquer Andalusia.Thompson 1982, p. 164 ** December: King Rechiar is captured in Oporto and executed. The Suevic monarchy collapse and rapidly disintegrate into rival factions. * 464 - Remismund becomes king of a unified Suebi nation.Thompson 1982, p. 167 * 466 ** Remismund requests an Arian missionary from the Visigothic court and receive Ajax, who converts the Suevic nobility and establishes an Arian church in the kingdom.Arias 2007, p. 21 ** Theodoric II is murdered by his younger brother Euric, who succeedes him to the throne.Jordanes, p. 44-45 * 470 - Euric conquers southern Gallaecia and Lusitania to the Suevi. * 472 - Euric captures Hispania Tarraconensis, the last bastion of Roman rule in Spain. * 475 - Euric (who unified the various quarreling factions of the Visigoths) forces the Roman government to grant the Visigothic kingdom full independence.Heather 1996, p. 196 6th Century * 507 - Alaric II is killed in the battle of Vouillé, been succeeded by his illegitimate son, Gesalic, because his legitimate son Amalaric is still a child.Gibbon, chapter 38 * 511 ** Gesalic is driven from the throne by Ibbas and escapes to Africa. He attempts to get aid from the Vandals against the Ostrogoths, but fails.Menendez Pidal, Intervención de Teodorico, rey de los ostrogodos ** Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, acts as regent for Gesalic's half-brother, Amalaric, until Amalaric being old enough to take the throne.Gibbon, chapter 39 ** Although Theodoric rules from Ravenna, the center of Visigothic rule shifts to Barcelona. * 513 - The deposed king Gesalic launches an invasion of Iberia from Gallia Aquitania but is defeated by Ibbas's army and killed at the end of the year. * 531 ** Chlotilda, wife of Amalaric and sister of Childebert I, Frankish king of Paris, claims her Arian husband didn't respect her Catholic beliefs. Childebert goes down with an army and defeats the Gothic king. Amalaric retreats to Barcelona, where he is assassinated by his own troops. ** The strongman Theudis, a former commander of Theodoric the Great, is elected king and transfers the capital from Narbonne to Barcelona.Gibbon, chapter 41 * 534 - General Belisarius conquered the Balearic Islands to the Byzantine Empire. * 541 - Theudis confronts the Franks under Chlothar I and Childebert I, who had penetrated as far as Pamplona and Zaragoza, which they besiege for forty-nine days. After successfully defending it he drives them out of the country.Grégoire de Tours, book III, p. 29 * 548 - Theudis is assassinated in his palace. Theudigisel, one of his generals, is elected king of the Visigoths.Claude 1971, p. 48 * 549 - Agila becomes king of the Visigoths.Gregorius, book IV, p. 8 * 550 ** Chararic becomes King of the Suevi.Thompson 1980, p. 83 ** The citizens of Córdoba rebel against Arian rule and Agila is roundly defeated, his son killed, and the royal treasure lost. He himself retreats to Mérida.Isidore, p. 46 * 551 - A nobleman named Athanagild takes Seville and rules as king in opposition to Agila. * 552 ** Athanagild claims the Byzantine emperor Justinian for help against the king Agila.Collins 2004, p. 47-49 ** In June or July the byzantine army lands in Spain, probably near Málaga, and joins with Athanagild to defeat Agila as he marches south from Mérida towards Seville in August or September.Thompson 1969, p. 325 ** Seville and the surrounding area are conquered by the Byzantines, beginning the formation of the province of Spania. * 554 ** Justinian's armies take Andalusia and Granada, leading to much rejoicing by the local people, who are mostly Hispano-Romans. ** The supporters of Agila, in fear of the recent Byzantine successes, turn and assassinate him, raising Athanagild as sole king of the Goths in opposition to the Byzantines, who are now a direct threat to the kingdom. * 566 ** Athanagild takes Seville to the Byzantines. ** Theodemar begins the most important administrative and ecclesiastical division of the Suebic Kingdom. * 568 - Liuva I is declared king after a short period of anarchy which followed the death of King Athanagild. * 569 - Liuva call his brother Leovigild to rule as co-king. Liuva, favored by the Visigoth nobles, comes to rule the Visigothic lands north of the Pyrenees, while Leovigild rules in Hispania.Claude 1971, p. 55 * 572 - Miro conducts an expedition against the Ruccones (Runcones) of Cantabria. This attack on a people within the Visigothic kingdom serves an excuse for Gothic reprisals against the Sueves.Arias 2007, p. 30 * 573 ** Liuva dies, Leovigild becomes sole ruler of the Visigothic kingdom. ** Leovigild subdues the Suevi region of Sabaria. * 574 - Leovigild restores the province of Cantabria to his dominion. * 575 - Leovigild invades the Aregensian Mountains, bringing the region under his power.Arias 2007, p. 31 * 576 - Leovigild marches to the southern frontier of Galicia (the Douro river) and menaces the small kingdom, even founding the city of Villa Gothorum (modern Toro). Miro sues for peace, and obtains it for a short time.Wace Piercy 1911, Miro * 580 - Hermenegild revolts against his father Leovigild, proclaiming king in Seville, supported by the orthodox bishops. * 581 - Leovigild founds the city of Victoriacum (Vitoria-Gasteiz), in order to control the territory of Vasconia.Marroquín 2001 * 582 - Leovigild takes the rebel Mérida, Itálica, Seville and Córdoba, banishing Hermenegild to Valencia. * 585 ** The deposition of the legitimate king Eboric gives Leovigild an excuse to invade the Suevic kingdom. Leovigild deprives the captured King Andeca of his rule, and brings the territory of the Suevi under his own power, making Galicia a province of the Visigothic kingdom.Arias 2007, p. 32 ** Malaric rises in rebellion, claiming the Suevi throne, but is defeated by King Leovigild's generals and captured.Arias 2007, p. 33 ** April 13: Hermenegild, son of the king Leovigild, is murdered by his agents. * 586 - April 21: Leovigild dies, being succeeded by his son Reccared. * 587 ** In January, Reccared renounces Arianism for Catholicism. Most Arian nobles and ecclesiastics follow his example, but there are Arian uprisings, notably in Septimania, his northernmost province, where the leader of opposition is the Arian bishop Athaloc. Reccared's army defeated the Arian insurgents and their Catholic allies with great slaughter. ** The next Arian conspiracy brakes out in the west, Lusitania, headed by Sunna, the Arian bishop of Mérida, and count Segga. Claudius, Reccared's dux Lusitaniae, put down the rising, Sunna being banished to Mauritania and Segga retiring to Gallaecia. 7th Century * 603 - Witteric, commander of a Visigothic army against the Byzantines, uses his troops to strike at the king Liuva II, deposing him and have him condemned and executed.Thompson 1969, p. 157-159 * 610 - A faction of Catholic nobles assassinate Witteric and proclaim Gundemar king of the Visigoths.Thompson 1969, p. 159-161 * 619 - After a massive expedition against the Byzantines, Sisebut conquers Málaga.Thompson 1969, p. 332 * 621 - After the death of Sisebut, his young son Reccared II succeed him, but his premature death allows his maternal half-uncle the strongman and general Suintila to accede to the throne.Thompson 1969, p. 171 * 622 - Carthago Spartaria is conquered and destroyed by Suintila. It will be reconstructed 50 years later. * 624 - The entire province of Spania is in Visigothic hands save the Balearic Islands. * 631 - Sisenand overthrow Suintila with the aid of Dagobert I, king of the Franks, occupying the throne.Thompson 1969, p. 170-180 * 642 - Chindasuinth, commander of the frontier with the Basques, commence a rebellion, being proclaimed king by a convention of nobles and the people at Pampalica (probably modern Pampliega) without the support of the church.Thompson 1969, p. 190 * 648 - January 20: Recceswinth, son of Chindasuinth, is crowned co-king in an attempd to establish a hereditary monarchy. The associate-son is from this date until Chindasuinth death the true ruler of the Visigoths, in name of his father.Claude 1971, p. 131-154 * 672 ** Some weeks after ascending the throne, Wamba have to face a revolt from Hilderic, governor of Nîmes, who had himself aspired to the kingship. Wamba send Flavius Paulus, an Hispano-Roman duke, to put down the hostilities, but upon his arrival at Narbonne, Flavius Paulus become a rebel himself, being elected king by his army and joined by Hilderic and his followers.Thompson 1969, p. 224-228 ** Flavius Paulus send emissaries to the Basques, inciting them to rebellion, which forces Wamba to personally lead an army into the western Pyrenees and reduce the Basques to submission. ** Flavius Paulus is crowned by his supporters. The Visigothic cities in Gaul and a large part of northeastern Hispania come over to Paulus' side. Nobles opposed to Wamba organize large units to fight the royal armies in the field. ** Wamba marches into the Narbonensis and Tarraconensis regions, the center of the revolt, and in a few days turns most of the cities back to his side. * 673 - Paulus surrender in Narbonne, ending the rebellion. * 680 - While on the verge of death, Wamba is forced to retire from the kingship, even though he recovers, and enter a monastery. Erwig is appointed as his successor. * 687 - November 14: After falling seriously ill, Erwig proclaims his son-in-law Ergica as his heir and retires to a monastery as a penitent.Collins 2004, p. 105 =See Also= ---- * Western Roman Empire ** List of emperors =Bibliography= ---- * Michael Kulikowski, Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004 ISBN 0801879787 * E. A. Thompson, Romans and Barbarians: The Decline of the Western Empire, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982 ISBN 0 299 08700 X * José Leite Vasconcellos, Religiões da Lusitania na parte que principalmente se refere a Portugal, Imprensa Nacional, 1913 * Procopius of Caesarea, Bellum Vandalicum * Roger Collins, Vandal Africa, 429–533, XIV, Cambridge University Press, 2000 * Roger Collins, "The Basques in Aquitaine and Navarre: Problems of Frontier Government." War and Society in the Middle Ages: Essays in Honour of J. O. Prestwich, edd. J. Gillingham and J. C. Holt, Cambridge: Boydell Press, 1984, Reprinted in Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain, Variorum, 1992 ISBN 0-86078-308-1 * Jorge C. Arias, Identity and Interactions: The Suevi and the Hispano-Romans, University of Virginia, 2007 * Jordanes, De origine Getarum * Peter Heather, The Goths, Blackwell Publishing, 1996 * Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire * Ramon Menendez Pidal, Historia Política del Reino Hispano Visigodo Arriano * Grégoire de Tours, Histoire des Francs * Dietrich Claude, Adel, Kirche und Königtum im Westgotenreich, Sigmaringen, 1971 * Gregorius Turonensis, Decem Libri Historiarum * E. A. Thompson, The Conversion of the Spanish Suevi to Catholicism, in Visigothic Spain: New Approaches, ed. Edward James, Oxford University Press, 1980 ISBN 0-19-922543-1 * Isidore of Seville, Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum * Roger Collins, Visigothic Spain, 409–711, Blackwell Publishing, 2004 * E. A. Thompson, The Goths in Spain, Clarendon Press, 1969 * Henry Wace and William C. Piercy, A Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature, ed. John Murray, 1911. Reprinted as Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies, Hendrickson Publishers, 1999 ISBN 1 56563 460 8 * Besga Marroquín, Domuit vascones: el País Vasco durante la época de los reinos germánicos: la era de la independencia (siglos V-VIII), Librería Anticuaría Astarloa, 2001 =References= ---- Category:Iberian Peninsula Category:Timelines Category:Broken links